Literary Super Paper Mario
by TheGlorious0ne
Summary: (First Fic) Super Paper Mario, but in literary format! Can the four heroes of legend defeat the dark prophecies and save all dimensions from destruction? [Rated T for violence just to be on the safe side]
1. Chapter 1

There will be some changes to the story and plot hole fixes. Most notably, the 2D-3D mechanic is gone, Mario talks, and this fanfic will be generally darker than the game already was. This is my first fanfic so I would like some constructive criticism.

**I do not own **_**Super Paper Mario **_**or any of its characters, nor am I making any money from them. They are property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems**

* * *

_Ahem! Today I'll tell you the story of the lost book of prophecies. This prophetic book was a mysterious tome full of stories of future events. Of course, many people craved this book, wishing to glimpse their futures. But no person, after obtaining this amazing book, ever found happiness. The reason? The book held frightful secrets not meant for people's eyes. That book came to be called the Dark Prognosticus and was sealed away. This is the tale of that forgotten book's last owner. It is a tale of love._

...

It was a sunny day at Mario and Luigi's abode. The birds of the nearby forest sang happily in the distance. The few clouds in the sky were fluffy and white, with no sign of rain or other unpleasant weather. The bushes and plants decorating the house were lush green and healthy, as was the door that served as the entrance of the place. Indeed, it was a peaceful, perfect day for the Mario Bros, which did not go unnoticed by a certain green-capped fellow.

"Wow, sure is peaceful today, eh Bro?" Luigi said in response to a yawn from his elder brother, who was drinking a 'Shroom Shake in his lunch chair. Mario finished his drink, wiping off any residual wetness from his well-groomed mustache, and responded.

"You said it Bro. This day is the most relaxing I've gotten in a while." Mario tossed the 'Shroom Shake in the trash can. No princess kidnappings, no go-kart races, no crazy adventures.

"Makes a guy feel lucky, having a peaceful day." Luigi paused as if expecting something as if expecting something. "Yup, reeeal peaceful, it's almost a little bit boring." Luigi turned his head from side-to-side, as if expecting something to burst out at him then and there. "It makes you want a…" Luigi paused again, trying to formulate a word that could match his desires, until Mario beat him to it.

"KERBLOOEY!" Mario's hands suddenly rose up in the air and his body left the back of the chair.

"Yeah that" Luigi stated flatly.

"Some sort of shocking event to get our gears grinding." Mario began to lean back in the chair, putting his gloved fist on his chin, contemplating what events could come. "I know what you mean. It can be easy to get restless when you're used to big adventures. How about heading over to the castle?"

"Great idea Bro! It has been a while, I'm sure the Princess would be happy to see us."

The Bros. then opened the door and left their home, unaware that their simple trek to Peach's Castle on a peaceful day, would turn into their grandest adventure yet.

….

About 10 minutes from Mushopolis, the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom, the Bros. saw a toad running down the hill they were climbing. While the Toad did appear to be in a great hurry, and the Bros. had a hint of curiosity as to what he little mushroom was worried about, they figured seeing the lovely Princess Peach was more important. They weren't going to go and find out what the Toad was upset over.

"Mario!" the Toad's squeaky voice rang out.

Looks like they were going to find out after all.

"What is it?" Mario asked, trying to hide his annoyed expression. "We're gonna go see Peach so I'd like you to make it quick," the red-clad plumber sighed.

"That's just the thing," the Toad clarified to Mario. "Princess Peach has been kidnapped!"

The Bros. immediately showed shock on their faces as if they were wondering who could have done such a thing, which quickly wore off after they realized who has done such a thing (dozens of times). Their shock that they once wore was replaced by exasperation as they face-palmed in pure annoyance.

"Three days," Mario said flatly. "Three. Days. Between kidnappings." the plumber's voice began to pick up. "I swear, that lug does not know when to quit" Mario began to take his hand off of his face and bunch it into a fist. "How many times has this been, Luigi?"

"Let me check" Luigi got out a pad of paper he always kept with him in the pocket of his overalls. No one knew how this paper stayed tucked so firmly in his overalls, let alone all the other items Luigi regularly brings. "This is the 58th time" Luigi said to his brother after observing the 57 tallies on the paper, to which Luigi added one with his pen.

"Well, let's-a-go" Mario halfheartedly said his trademark expression as he turned towards the direction of Bowser's Castle in the Koopa Kingdom. This would be a massive detour from the evening Mario wanted with the pink princess, but maybe something could be salvaged from it. The Bros. began their trek.

….

"This is just sad." Mario brought up to his brother.

The Bros. had just successfully infiltrated the lava-filled castle. Full to the brim with spikes, Fire Bars, crushers, and minions of Bowser, it seemed near-impossible to get through. "Seemed" being the keyword. The Bros. actually got in through the unlocked gate that was guarded by just two koopatrols, who were "elite" koopa minions. They were fooled by simple makeshift cloaks made from towels Mario and Luigi disguised themselves with. The towels even had a red M and a green L on them respectively, and the Bros. mustaches were fully visible. Yet somehow, the Bros. had managed to sneak all the way to Bowser's throne room without fighting a single thick-headed minion.

Now that they were in the throne room, they took time to notice its decorations. A line of velvet carpeting with Bowser's signature insignia in yellow painted constantly throughout led to a set of steps and a throne of stone which had similar carpeting. Two grey stone pillars near the throne had Bowser's menacing face chiseled on them. Mario knew from previous experience that these pillars could launch fireballs and green, mid-intensity lasers from their maws. The room hadn't changed much in the past several kidnappings. In fact, the pillars were the last new addition added and they were set up on the 46th kidnapping.

Bowser was seated in his throne, fanned by magikoopas on either side. A crowd of his minions were gathered near the throne in a tight cluster, clearly awaiting their king's commands.

"Is that Mario?" a green-shelled koopa asked another within earshot of the Bros.

"Oh finally, somebody actually competent" whispered Luigi to Mario, who nodded in response.

"No it can't be." another responded. "Their mustaches don't go with the logos on their cloaks."

The Bros. were completely dumbfounded. They did switch the towels around for kicks, with the M on Luigi and the L on Mario, but didn't expect anyone to actually fall for their tricks because of it. The Bros. were about ready to reveal themselves, when…

"Listen well, my elite minion task force!" growled the Koopa King while rising from his throne. "It's time to initiate my awesome plot to invade Mushroom Castle!"

The Bros. were getting confused. Hadn't he already invaded the castle?

"Today is the day that I make my beloved Princess Peach all mine! If that wasn't enough, I'll also stomp her little mustache buddies!" and indeed, he would confront them sooner than he thought.

There was more of this long generic speech that Bowser had planned, but the Bros. were sick of it already and wanted answers right now: Where was Peach? Why was Bowser invading Mushroom Castle a second time? Why was his security so bad?

"Hey Bowser!" Mario yelled out, tearing his makeshift cloak off along with his brother.

Bowser turned, facing the two brothers in the sea of minions, and saw the very archrival that always ruined his plans… and Luigi. The Koopa King was stunned for a second, but eventually the anger in his red eyes overpowered the surprise and he scowled. The king then leaped into the air and crashed down next to the Bros, causing the minions nearby to flee in terror and the stone walls of the castle to shake. "Mario and Luigi?" he grunted. "How did you get in here?"

"The front gate was unlocked." Mario said plainly, but with a hint of smugness.

Bowser's eyes went wide, shocked by his minions' stupidity, before he stomped the floor in frustration.

"How many times have I told those idiots?! If you're the last one in, _lock the gate_!" The minion who guessed Mario's true identity got a guilty look on his face, as the heroes noticed. It seemed he wasn't so smart after all.

"Release the princess!" Mario demanded, ignoring the koopa's ranting. He took a step forward and clenched his fists, preparing to fight his nemesis yet another time. Luigi, standing alongside him, took a battle-ready stance as well, stoked to be fighting Bowser with his brother.

Luigi was not always by Mario's side in adventures. He was at first a coward, who merely wrote about Mario's exciting adventures and battles in his journal. Mario discovered this during the 35th kidnapping when Bowser took control of the Star Rod, and he gave Luigi a good pep talk. That talk, as well as Mario being kidnapped by King Boo a few months later, was what truly inspired Luigi to join his brother in his epic battles.

"Wwwhat," Bowser stammered. "We-we were only now about to launch our attack," he explained.

"If that's the case, then where…"

"BLEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Suddenly, there was a small explosion of dark purple energy between the Bros. and Bowser in the air. Mario, Luigi, Bowser and his minions all stared up there in awe but were unhurt. At the center of the explosion was a strange blue-skinned being. He looked upper-class, given he had a top hat and monocle as well as an enormously high red collar on his head. Beneath that was an orange cape that covered most of his body and gradually faded to a dark blue as it went down. However, the darkest blue of his cape was not as dark as his midnight face. The eye not covered by the aforementioned monocle glowed red, contrasting with the deep blue of his head. He also had a strange, creepy smile like a jack-o-lantern's that put everyone on edge, Mario included. The blue man waved his jeweled staff fixated in his gloved hand and revealed Princess Peach, trapped within an ethereal barrier next to him.

"Peach!" Mario, Luigi, and Bowser yelled simultaneously.

"Your princess has been taken… by Count Bleck!"

"Count… Bleck?" Mario questioned, having never heard of such a name before.

"The chosen executor of the Dark Prognosticus… is Count Bleck!" Bleck continued. The fine fellow prophesied to come to this dimension… is also Count Bleck!"

"I'll tell you who doesn't make even a little bit of sense… Count Bleck!" Bowser responded imitating Bleck's style of speaking and making the trapped princess chuckle a little. "Release the princess right this instant! Only I get to kidnap her!"

"Release the princess to us so we can take her back to her castle!" Mario yelled out both to Bleck and Bowser.

"Yeah!" Luigi unnecessarily yelled out, trying to imitate his twin brother.

"Count Bleck says _never! _ This princess is integral to fulfilling the prophecies!" Bleck yelled back, assuring the Bros. and Bowser that they would have to take her back by force. "She will be brought to Castle Bleck and used to destroy all worlds… by Count Bleck!"

"Alright we know your name's Count Bleck already. You don't have to say it every five seconds!" the koopa king hissed. "Now you better bring Peach down here, or else!" he continued, lowering his gravelly voice even further.

"Bleh heh heh heh. Your princess shall not be returned…by Count Bleck. In fact, Bowser, evil king of the koopas, Count Bleck will take you too." Bleck said. He pulled open his long cape, and revealed…

Nothing.

Not just nothing, but Nothing. The Nothing underneath the mad count's cape was unlike anything anyone in the castle barring Bleck himself had ever seen before. It truly felt like an absence of all things. It was a Nothing beyond color, beyond dimensions, and beyond the Bros. full comprehension. It was as if the universe itself didn't exist, replaced by pure, unfiltered Nothingness. The Bros. and Bowser couldn't help but gawk, amazed and terrified and confused all at the same time.

Suddenly, those at the castle felt the Nothingness pull them in. It was a powerful pull, easily sweeping most minions off their feet and sucking them in, as well as vacuuming up the two monarchs. Reacting quickly, Mario and Luigi anchored their boots to the carpeted ground, but Luigi was just not quite strong enough to resist the hungry Nothing and was sent in as well. After just a few seconds, Mario was the only one left, and even he could feel the immense pull of the Nothingness straining him and wearing him down, but be persevered until the Nothingness finally relented.

"Hmm… Count Bleck notices your strength." Bleck stated.

Mario was not amused or complimented by this in the slightest, and began to unleash the sacred Firebrand technique he had learned in Oho Oasis. Opening his palm, the plumber summoned a mighty ball of fire. Then he put his hand back, next to his face, charging up and superheating the fireball to great extents. Finally, Mario threw the blazing fire at Bleck, ready to see it incinerate him for what he had done.

Even as the fireball sped ever closer to him, Bleck still kept that menacing, creepy smile. He was unafraid of the searing flame, knowing even it was no threat to him. Once it got within a few feet of him, burning the velvet carpet as it went, Bleck simply redirected the fireball to his right using his staff, causing a massive explosion that crumbled the stone wall to dust.

"Count Bleck is impressed. An attack of this magnitude has not been unleashed against Count Bleck in a long time."

"Shut up and fight!" the one who unleashed the attack interrupted, furious at Bleck.

"There will be no fight… with Count Bleck. Count Bleck has a prophecy to fulfill." With that, Bleck teleported again, this time leaving Bowser's now-deserted castle.

"No!" Mario yelled as he contemplated what he could possibly do next. He had no idea of Bleck's whereabouts or where he took Peach and Luigi. He mentioned a "Castle Bleck", but Mario had absolutely no idea of where it was. Even if he got there, Mario wondered how he could defeat that dastardly count who effortlessly deflected his highly powerful Firebrand attack like it was nothing. How would Mario even begin?

As if to answer his question, a mysterious rainbow butterfly materialized in the room.

"Who are you?" the shaken plumber asked with a mix of anger and intrigue.

"My name is Tippi. I am what is known as a Pixl." Her voice was soft but high-pitched, much like Princess Peach's. "Mario… I came to find you."

Mario's suspicion rose. If this "Pixl" was coming to find him then she could have been sent by Bleck to finish him, yet it did not seem as if she wanted to attack him or that she worked for the count. Her luminous, light colors contrasted that of Bleck's and she seemed much kinder than the evil count. Maybe she could even help the plumber fight against the world-destroyer.

"You know Count Bleck, do you not?" the Pixl asked.

This was the moment of truth. Was she with or against Count Bleck, and would Mario have to take her down?

"Yes."

"Bleck captured a princess and a dark king, correct?"

"Indeed it is"

"Oh no," even though the Pixl's words carried grave tone, Mario felt more at ease knowing that she was against the count. "Then that means The Void will be formed any minute. You must come with me if we are to stop Bleck and save your friends." Tippi continued. Now touch me and I will take you to Flipside, where you can learn how to defeat Bleck."

With slight hesitation, Mario laid his gloved hand upon the butterfly's wings and felt he was being pulled into another dimension. Unlike the last time with Bleck, this time felt calmer and less violent. A gentle, nudging pull rather than a starving maw, and Mario knew he had made the right choice.

They warped out of the dimension, leaving no one in Bowser's Castle.


	2. Chapter 2

Mario is heading over to Flipside. Peach, Luigi, and Bowser, meanwhile, aren't in as good a spot.

**I do not own **_**Super Paper Mario **_**or any of its characters, nor am I making money from them. They are property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

* * *

Before Mario knew it, he had arrived with Tippi into a strange location. The sky was of a pure golden color, with strange white etchings on the horizon, almost as if drawn there by a mysterious force. Mario looked at the ground and noticed it was solid white, and also saw seven door-shaped arches. He took a small breath and walked a few steps, his anger calmed by the Pixl who transported him. Soon, Mario noticed that the ground went down at an angle too steep for him to see, so he took a closer look. Upon looking down, the red-capped plumber saw small buildings beneath. They were of great variety, with shops, bed-and-breakfasts, a fortune-telling place as Mario guessed by the crystal ball symbols etched on it, and a house. It was odd-looking, as it was colored with a mix of dark blue and green, with multiple star symbols etched on the walls. Mario wondered who could possibly own that house.

"Oh ho!"

Mario gasped in fright at the grand voice and immediately turned around to see an old sagely man. He possessed a blue cloak that completely hid his features aside from a massive white mustache that put even Mario's own mustache to shame. It went down almost to the ground, yet kept straight and unmangled, with a luminous shine.

"_How does he keep his mustache so fine when it's almost down to the ground?_" Mario remembered when he attempted to grow a mustache that long. That was during the awkward phase of kidnappings 12-15. Back when Mario wore a weird-looking tanooki suit and whipped foes with his tail. He was trying to find his hero identity back then. "_It's almost as if he's…" _

"Magic, hmm?" the man answered

Mario was startled again, even more so than before. This man read his thoughts before the plumber could even fully form them. He must have indeed been magic. After regaining his breath, Mario said sarcastically "Sneaking up behind people and laughing might not be the best way to introduce yourself."

"Oh my apologies." the old man responded, seeming genuine.

"This is Mario," Tippi said to the old man, introducing the red plumber. "He matches the description of the hero perfectly."

"Hold on, hero?" Mario began to question. He knew he was a hero, and a good one, but he didn't think he was _the _hero of anything outside of his dimension, which this clearly was.

"Indeed. Mario… your unmistakable red shirt, blue overalls, cap and magnificent 'stache all point to you being the hero of the Light Prognosticus!"

Mario immediately had some questions. What was the Light Prognosticus? Did it relate to the Dark Prognosticus or be used to stop it and Bleck? Why was he the hero of this prophecy? However, he stayed silent, assuming the mustached man would answer these questions and more without Mario actually asking them.

"I welcome you Mario. I am Merlon, a sage and descendant of the Ancients. This is the town of Flipside. The town is a dimension that is really no dimension at all. It is _between _dimensions! We are currently on top of Flipside's tower." Mario looked around again and felt stupid for not realizing it was a tower earlier. "I study the Light Prognosticus and other powerful ancient texts to forestall the end of all worlds." Merlon talked about the town and its history for a while, and Mario made sure to listen intently

_Meanwhile…_

"…" Princess Peach could feel herself finally waking up, and for a second thought that the events that had transpired just earlier had all been a terrifying dream.

"Bleh heh heh heh! So you finally awake, princess?"

Peach fully opened her eyes, and noticed she was in some weird wedding chapel, with flowers and ribbons decorating the altar. There was only solid white on the ground, no grass or lava or anything like that. "_Wait…" _Peach realized she was right at the altar, in a flowery white dress, and felt her hair done in a ponytail. It was as if she was the one getting married. At the other end of the altar was… Bowser?!

Suddenly Peach noticed all of the minions that were in Bowser's Castle cheering on the Koopa King at the other end of the altar. There were thousands of them, giving off their respect and admiration for the mighty king, though Peach seemed a bit puzzled about _what _the cheering was for-unless Bleck wanted to…

Suddenly other being materialized in the area next to Count Bleck, who was floating above Peach and Bowser. She wore business attire and rather severe spectacles, giving off that she was a no-nonsense woman, not someone Peach would be fond of. She had blue skin and purple hair rolled back in a bun. "Yeah, um 'k count. So preparations are complete." Bleck's assistant said in business-like monotone that furthered Peach's distaste for her.

"Then it shall be begun, by Count Bleck!" Bleck responded. Bells rang as Bleck gave a wedding speech. "Bowser… ferocious and fearsome, evil king of the koopas, do you take Peach to be your lawfully wedded wife 'til your games be over?"

"Bwah ha ha. Will I marry Peach? Are you kidding me? The answer's YEEESSS!" Bowser rang out joyously. Bleck then turned to the other end of the altar. "Peach, noble princess, fair of heart, do you take Bowser to be your lawfully wedded husband 'til your games be over?"

"What?" Peach asked, fumbling through words. "Why in the world am I marrying… Bowser?"

"Come on Peach," Bowser pleaded, desperately trying to get her to marry him. "I don't get the details, but the count here has gone through a lot of trouble planning this. Just relax and we'll be married. You'll be a queen, and it'll be awesome."

"NO!" Peach yelled, uncaring about Bowser's pleading. Adding insult to injury, she stated "and who picked this dress out? It's awful!" Suddenly, Bleck's assistant lowered her glasses and Peach was on the ground, her mind being warped.

"Yeah um, being rude to the esteemed count is sort of frowned on, 'k?

"Nnngh"

"Now Peach, I'm gonna need to answer the count now. Do you, Peach, take Bowser to be your wedded husband 'til your games be over?"

Peach was going to say a strong "NO!", and felt it right on the tip of her tongue. That business lady though, was warping her mind, forcing her to say what she wanted. Before the mind-control, Peach didn't know if it was possible to hate her more, but now she did. Eventually, the thoughts of "NO" faded out of her mind entirely, replaced with a phrase she never thought she'd utter in front of Bowser. At first she tried to fight it, but slowly she began to yearn for that special life-changing phrase. Her mind was growing accustomed to the word, and finally, after what seemed like an hour to her but was really only a few seconds, she gave the word at last.

"I do"

Bowser was overjoyed, even if Peach was under mind-control. He was so sure she'd learn to love him and respect him as a wife does to a husband. He had spent so many kidnappings… 57 to be exact, for this ultimate goal. Sure he did want power and control over both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Kingdom, but he also wanted _her_. She was beautiful, intelligent, and good at cooking. Bowser felt that there was nothing that could ruin his perfect day.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and energy waves came out from the white altar.

"Wh-What?!" Bowser stammered.

A black heart began to slowly rise from the altar. Bowser got chills from its presence. Its sheer power was overwhelming, shaking the wedding chapel and surpassing even that of the Star Rod. The darkness radiating from the heart gave even the mighty Koopa King a hint of fear, and many minions outright fainted. It felt completely alien, having a strange aura to its power that Bowser couldn't quite place. If there was anything that was like it, it would be the force in Bleck's own cape. The Nothingness.

Suddenly Bowser remembered being pulled through dimensions into the monstrous Nothing. It felt completely soulless and sterile, as Bowser figured Nothingness should. However, there was also a strange evil presence. It was more subtle, barely a whisper in the yells of the Nothingness, but it was there. Bowser remembered feeling the most vile thing that ever was, is, and will be assaulting his senses once he caught on to its presence. It was like a cockroach in the eyes of a lady, small and barely noticeable, but terrifying if discovered. This heart had all the malevolence.

"Bleh heh heh heh heh! Precisely as written in the Dark Prognosticus. Already it is unleashed, the Chaos Heart!"

As Bowser was intoxicated by the sheer power and evilness of the Chaos Heart, he felt an all-too-familiar sensation on his head. The green-clad plumber was apparently there too and just stomped on him before landing on the heart. As Bowser recovered from the blow to his cranium, he noticed that the heart began to pulsate.

"Here's where Luigi rescues Princess Peach," Luigi said confidently, annoying the Koopa King with his limitless tenacity, but not distracting him from the Chaos Heart, which rose further into the air and at Bleck. Bleck wasted no time in bringing it to him, merging with the foul thing. The shaking increased, and Bleck began to laugh harder.

"Bleh heh heh heh heeeh. Bleh heh heh heh heeeeh! _Bleck!_"

Then everything went black.

…

As Merlon was talking to Mario about the history of the Flipside shops, the sky opened up, and a dark purple vortex came out.

"Is that normal?" Mario asked Merlon, whom he could tell was horrified even without seeing his face.

"That… is the Void."

"The Void?"

"Yes, it is a hole in the very dimensional fabric of space. It may appear small now, but it will only grow bigger and more powerful. Eventually, it will grow powerful enough to erase whole dimensions. Not one world will be spared from its hunger."

"So this is how Bleck will end the world?"

"According to the Light Prognosticus," Merlon cleared his throat "'A fair and lovely princess… A furious monster king… The union of these two will call forth the Chaos Heart, the consumer of worlds, and the Chaos Heart will ravage the sky, and so bring forth the Void.'"

"Oh that must be why he needed Peach and Bowser." Mario realized. "Wait, does this mean he _married _them?" Mario's eyes opened wide in horror.

"Well, yes." Merlon matter-of-factly stated, before continuing on as if nothing happened. "Where was I" he asked to himself. "Ah yes, 'The Void will swallow all. Naught can stop it… unless the one protected by the dark power is destroyed. The hero with the power of eight Pure Hearts will rise to the task' so it is written."

"The Pure Hearts, where can we get them?" asked Mario.

"Well I happen to have one right here," the old man answered as a heart of red and pink color floated a few feet upwards from him. The presence of the heart felt calming, yet empowering. Mario could look into the red heart and see mercy and hope. "Now Mario," Merlon said, "The prophecy said that the hero wields a mighty hammer. Do you possess one?

"Yes" Mario said while taking out his Ultra Hammer, which somehow fit in his overalls despite being over half as tall as Mario himself and the head being bigger than Mario's own head.

"The red middle covered by yellow on the sides?" Merlon exclaimed in awe. "Just as was written in the Light Prognosticus. You are the hero of legend! Take this and save all worlds Mario!" referring to the Pure Heart. "You are our very last soap!"

"Huh?" asked Tippi and Mario

"Hope!" Merlon corrected. "Our very last hope!"

Feeling powerful and confident with the heart nearby, as well as just his own natural heroism, prompted him to say boldly…

"Yes, I will!"

"Excellent!" Merlon directed the Pure Heart to Mario, who put it in his overalls despite it being almost the size of him.

"Now Mario, you must place this Pure Heart in the Heart Pillar in the town. Tippi will lead you there." Merlon gestured to the butterfly, who gave off a gesture as close to nodding as you could get when you were a rainbow butterfly.

"This way, she said as she led Mario to the tower's elevator. They took it down and got to the second floor, where the buildings Mario saw earlier were. Tippi sped towards what looked like another elevator, and Mario followed quickly, dodging the citizens of the town, who had strange multicolored skin tones, some yellow, some blue, some green, and blocky faces. After jumping over a guy and attracting the stares of the populace, Mario finally made it to the elevator. He entered alongside Tippi and went up to the third floor.

"You could go a little slower." Mario said somewhat sarcastically to Tippi.

"Sorry, I'm just _really _excited to do this," the Pixl responded in a frenzy.

Mario could see more of the town's citizens on the third floor. They weren't as shocked by Mario. They were more concerned over the Void in the sky, as they could see it much more clearly than the people on the second floor due to the lack of buildings.

"What do you think it's…" Mario heard passing a townsfolk, not able to hear the rest of the sentence due to the speed he and Tippi were going, which while not as fast as that on the second floor, was still too fast to really tell what exactly people were saying.

Finally, Mario got to a white pillar with a heart-shaped hole that Mario assumed was the Heart Pillar Merlon mentioned. As he got closer the heart began to pulse wildly in his overalls, and when he got close enough, the heart sprang out and entered the pillar, the heart's red energies flowing through the pillar and into Flipside Tower. Mario wondered at first what was happening, and jumped on top of the pillar to get a better view. He saw the energies flowed into one of the door arches, creating a door of the same color filling it in. Mario could tell, even without being told by Merlon or Tippi, that he would need to enter that door. It was just hero's intuition.

Mario returned to the tower and found Merlon.

"Let me guess, I gotta go through the door." Mario said to the man once he got in earshot.

"Good senses, Mario. This is a dimensional door," Merlon said looking at the door, which Mario now noticed was dark red with light red markings in the center square, and light red with dark red markings outside of it, with a solid dark red edge. "Somewhere beyond this door lies one of the seven other Pure Hearts. Tippi will accompany you and use her powers to aid you on your journey."

"Right" Tippi said.

"I also have this" Merlon said to Mario, handing Mario a strange small pipe. It was purely red at the stem but had a mix of red and white at the head like a candy cane.

"With this, you can return to Flipside from anywhere in the universe! Use wisely though, you can't go back to where you were when you used it."

"Got it." Mario responded.

"Now to save all worlds!" Merlon yelled as the door opened. A shiny red portal was within it, likely to take Mario to the dimension he needed to go.

"Let's-a-go!" Mario pumped his fist in the air, then stepped into the portal, ready to begin his adventure.

_Meanwhile at Castle Bleck..._

Bleck stood in a mysterious black room. The walls were black, the floor was black, the platforms were black with white outlines on the edges. The only things that showed any color were Bleck himself and his loyal minions. Bleck stood on a high-floating platform with his assistant, Nastasia, to his right on a slightly lower platform.

Facing Bleck, and closer to the door that led to the room, were Bleck's mightiest minions. A tall, burly, Bowser-sized man stood at the top floating platform other than Bleck's and Nastasia's. He was bald but had big brown eyebrows and a massive beard on his chin. He wore a brown tank top with brown fingerless gloves and red boots. Clearly he was not to be messed with.

On a lower platform was a less-intimidating character. He looked like a jester, having big yellow and purple frills on his upper body. On his head he wore even bigger ones with the three larger purple ones on the center and edges respectively, and the smaller yellow ones in between those. He wore a half-black, half-white mask that seemed to have its own expressions, given its eyes, yellow on the black side, black on the white, visibly blinked. The rest of his form was entirely black, almost camouflaging him within the castle walls. He also had a perpetual yellow smile on his mask that was almost as creepy as Bleck's own.

"Bleh heh heh heh! Bleck! The Void has been ripped in the dimensional fabric! Count Bleck is pleased. All has gone as foretold in the Dark Prognosticus. Now it's just a matter of time until all worlds meet their demise. Bleck!"

"Wow, that's just super, Count!" the burly man replied with a slight accent. "Yeah, first you'll erase all these naughty worlds, and then you're gonna build a perfect world without war and all that other icky stuff."

"Yes, yes, no one likes the icky stuff," the jester said to the muscled man with a high-pitched, shimmering voice. "A perfect world sounds magical," the jester's voice slowly faded as he said the sentence, almost like an echo. "Ah ha ha," the jester laughed.

"Sorry I'm late!" someone yelled out with a much stronger version of the burly man's accent. He entered the door in a rush and he… was the burly man. Now there were two of the same person in the room, with the second one occupying the middle platform. The second did not let this escape his notice. "What in blazin' bog rats? How'd I beat meself 'ere? What's goin' on?"

'Mimimimimimimiiii" the first responded, voice losing all similarities to the second one's and sounding more like a teenage girl, unnatural-sounding for someone who looked like that. "Oh, O'Chunks, you big silly. Did you oversleep or something?" Suddenly, the first vanished in a purple smoke and out came a duplicate of Count Bleck. "I guess it's kinda hard to be on time though, when you've got muscles instead of brains." Her voice stayed the same, not changing to that of Bleck's.

"Eh!" the second, and true, O'Chunks yelled. "Yeh can't fool me wit' that shape-shiftin' tomfoolery! It's Mimi innit? Show a little respect for the count. Yeh can't go a-borrowin' 'is face lass!"

"How delightful Mimi. Almost as dapper… as Count Bleck." Bleck said clearly amused or flattered as opposed to angry like O'Chunks.

"Aww, thanks count." Mimi sweetly said as she suddenly changed forms again, showing a duplicate of Peach. "Hanging out with you is _my_ idea of a perfect world."

"And here I thought Mimi's ideal world was a gem-filled pool with hunky lifeguards." The jester spoke, confusing Bleck and O'Chunks.

"Hey Dimentio, have you been reading my diary?!" Mimi yelled, changing her form and voice to that of Bowser to sound more intimidating. She realized within a second or so that she accidentally revealed her diary to the rest. "Uh, never mind." she said weakly, still with Bowser's voice.

"Remember minions, after these rotten worlds are ended, Count Bleck will make all your dreams come true." Bleck said, ignoring Mimi's reveal of her diary. "But for that to happen, we must follow the instructions of the Dark Prognosticus." Bleck then took a dark book out of his cape. The book's cover had a diamond-shaped line which started red and gradually faded to blue as it went down, much like the Count's cape. It was the Dark Prognosticus he had spoken of!

Nastasia, the one who hypnotized Peach, spoke for the first time in the meeting.

"Yeah about that, just an FYI. I got an urgent memo for your inbox," she informed Bleck in her usual monotone. "Apparently there's been some unapproved inter-dimensional activity lately. Yeah I'm thinking it's the hero of prophecy. We're gonna need an action plan for this guy."

"A dimensional interloper?! Possibly the hero?! Are you sure of it Nastasia?" Bleck asked with a hint of surprise but no major concern. "We shall put an end to this nuisance at once!" stated Bleck surely, affirming to his minions that he was in control.

"Wait, e' minute. This 'ero guy. He yer enemy?" O'Chunks interrupted.

"Well… Count Bleck does not know who he truly is."

"Red cap, blue overalls, fine mustache." Nastasia clarified to Bleck.

"'Dang it!' exclaimed Count Bleck," yelled Count Bleck as if he were directly reading from a book. The minions' took expressions of surprise, except the jester, who had the same creepy smile he always had. "Count Bleck had him at one point, but did not know he was the hero to oppose us!"

"Ooh, how unfortunate. Ah ha ha." the jester said in response.

"Don't worry Count. I'll 'andle this if yeh cut me loose on 'im." O'Chunks interrupted, flexing his muscles to show his raw strength.

"Very well, O'Chunks. I'll leave the hero-chunking to you. Do not fail Count Bleck," said the count to his thick-accented minion.

"Yeh can count on me." O'Chunks then turned to his fellow minions. "Yeh should tag along. Yeh could witness a proper chunkin'." O'Chunks then jumps off of his platform and exits the room. The jester, apparently wanting to see a chunking, exited the room as well, through sucking in energy in a cube around him and warping out. Then, the energy snapped back into the room with a satisfying _ziiing._

"So hero… You would defy Count Bleck? Then hurry, for your world's end draws near." Bleck had confidence, as he had powerful minions and weapons, plus the Chaos Heart. He figured no one could stop his omnicidal plans.

"Bleh heh heh heh! _Bleck!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Since there is no flipping in this adaption, there is no Bestovius either. Either way, the adventure will be epic.

**I do not own **_**Super Paper Mario**_** or any of its characters, nor am I making any money from them. They are property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

* * *

_Mario was called upon once again to save the world… no small task. Could he prevent Count Bleck from pulling off his sinister plot? Would Mario reunite with Princess Peach? A truly interdimensional adventure was about to begin…_

…

The mystical red portal opened up to a nice-looking grassland. There was obviously plenty of green, with the grass, bushes and trees in its lush color. However, there were also a few flowers, some of which as tall as Mario. The flowers were sparse enough so that the plumber didn't become crowded. There were also hints of pink, yellow, and blue on some of the trees' leaves. It did not seem like autumn as no leaves fell, so Mario wondered why the leaves had such different colors. Then he remembered, he wasn't in his dimension anymore.

"I feel the Pure Heart," Tippi stated. "It's still far from here though."

"Don't you worry Tippi," Mario responded confidently. "I've gone on so many adventures by this point I'm used to going far." Mario remembered the 57 times (so far) that he had saved Peach from Bowser's clutches. Most times it was a stretch through the grasslands first, then a desert, then miscellaneous areas, then the lava-filled Koopa Kingdom. There were also other threats like Cackletta and Grodus that Mario had defeated. None of them took Mario through dimensions however. He predicted he'd get to a desert next.

"Be that as it may, I will still assist you with my power," the butterfly stated. "If you want to know about anything, focus on it and I will use my power to scan it. If I sense its hostile then I'll tell it's power and how to defeat it, as well as it's general history and personality. If it isn't then I'll forgo telling about its power unless it is relevant. Time stops when this happens, and you will be the only one able to hear me. However, you will not be able to communicate with me during this."

"Got it," Mario replied excitedly, ready for an epic adventure. Then, Mario noticed a familiar being that he was surprised to find in another dimension. _Guess this'll be who I'll use it on first. _Mario focused hard on the creature, and within under a second, she replied.

"It's a goomba, one of Bowser's minions. Strength signature or SS is 20. Durability signature is 20. Speed signature or SPS is low. Energy signature or ES is 0 because it does not have any energy attacks. Magical signature or MS is 0 due to no magic. Intelligence signature or IS is low-mid. Threat level: 1. It really puts the 'under' back in 'underlings'. It has no memorable traits. They are pretty much the lowest of the low."

Time then unfroze again, but Mario did not stumble nor was he disoriented. Tippi was good at making it gentle for him.

"Alrighty then," Mario said as the goomba ran at him as fast as his little legs could go, which was a leisurely walking pace for the plumber. Not only did goombas barely come up to his waist, but they had stubby little legs. They were kinda cute in a way, but not cute enough for Mario not to unleash a jump attack, completely flattening the thing.

"Woah, you jump high," Tippi marveled as Mario stepped off of the flattened mushroom.

"They don't call me 'Jumpman' for nothing," Mario replied.

The duo proceeded up a few lush grassy hills, Mario stomping quite a few goombas along the way.

"So Tippi…" Mario asked. "Why are there these goombas here if it's another dimension?"

"I don't know. They are not native to here," she responded as Mario landed on another goomba. "Which means they must have been put here?"

"By whom?" Mario was a bit perturbed.

"I don't know," Tippi said to the plumber. "If I was able to scan the one that put them here I would know, but I don't think we can figure it out by scanning just them."

The plumber was getting uneasy. The goombas were no threat at all and the plumber could plow through tens of thousands of them if he wanted to, but if someone had access to goombas, they had access to other Koopa Kingdom species: clubbas, fuzzies, buzzy beetles, lakitus and more. Because of this, and Bleck marrying Bowser and fair Peach, Mario concluded Bowser must have sided with Bleck, making an even bigger problem.

"Bowser must have joined forces with Count Bleck," Mario said half to himself and half to his Pixl companion as he punched a goomba, making it pop like a balloon. Tippi said nothing, but that silence was more unnerving to the hero than anything she could have said.

After climbing up a hill and carving through a few dozen goombas, he came upon a strange double door. It was red with star patterns on it and a massive rainbow star in the middle of the two doors, as well as rainbows on the edges of both.

"Mario, there's a Purity Door," Tippi said to the plumber.

"A… what?" Mario responded, not knowing what that was.

"These doors are created by the Pure Hearts to lead the chosen hero to them," Tippi responded calmly. "They won't take you all the way there, but they are huge shortcuts, and they give off an aura."

Mario noticed this aura when he was climbing up the hill that led to the door. In fact, he could feel it since entering the dimension

"Wish I had that all the other times," Mario said as he pushed open the door, revealing a similar, but clearly different area past. There were more bushes and less hills, as well as more pipes. Some goombas were past it, as well as something that seemingly confirmed Mario's fears, a koopa troopa. If there were koopas and goombas scattered about, then Bowser must have sent them. Now Mario had Bleck AND Bowser to worry about!

However, the koopa troopa brandished something Mario found strange. On his beaked head were sunglasses. They looked severe, going sharply up at the top like eyebrows. Mario knew Bowser well enough to know that he would not approve of that style, or sunglasses in general as he heard when he snuck up on the Koopa King during the 53rd kidnapping.

_During the kidnapping…_

"Sunglasses are for chumps!" Bowser roared out to his goomba minion, who was wearing them and showing them off to the Koopa King.

"B-b-b-but…

"No buts!" Bowser yelled out even more angrily, tearing the glasses off the minion and crushing them in his huge hand. "They're just a cheap attempt to look cool. Now get out of my si—aaaaggh!" Mario had just put Bowser in a chokehold, with both him and the goomba too distracted by their emotions to notice him until it was too late.

_In present day… _

There was no way Bowser would tolerate those. Bleck alone must have been in charge of them, but why would the minions abandon their king? Mario puzzled these things as he went through the Purity Door.

As he did, Mario had Tippi scan the glasses-wearing koopa troopa.

"This is a koopa troopa. Its shells provide decent defense against attacks. SS is 40. DS is 50, 250 for the shell. SPS is low-mid. ES is 0. MS is 0. IS is medium. Threat level: 1. If you're about to leap on it, it'll instinctively crouch inside its shell and the shell will be easy to kick toward other foes. From what I hear, goombas have a long-held fear of koopa troopas."

Time went back to normal and Mario quickly jumped close to the koopa, resulting in it crouching in its shell. Mario then landed and readied his foot, finally kicking the shell into hordes of goombas, who were all arranged in a straight line for some reason. No enemies were left, aside from another koopa behind him. The koopa rushed toward Mario at a rather slow speed thanks to his green shell, but the plumber backhanded him in the face without even looking. The koopa's face was mashed in by the blow and he fell to the ground, surely dead.

"You're stronger than you look," Tippi complimented. "Although then again, you _are _the hero of prophecy."

Mario leaped onto the pipes, checking each one to see if it took him anywhere, although finding nothing each time. After leaping off them, he found a floating '?' block. Mario went under it and then jumped, pumping his fist in the air and hitting it against it. A coin proceeded to come out of the top of the block, landing next to Mario. The block kept the '?' symbol, indicating there were still more coins to come from it.

"Sweet! I didn't know these existed in other dimensions!" Mario exclaimed.

"They exist in every known dimension," Tippi stated as Mario bounced up and down repeatedly, making precious coins rain down from it. Eventually, the block turned brown and lost its symbol, showing all coins were gone. "Many things can come out of these blocks, usually depending on the dimension."

After collecting the coins as well as more goomba-stomping and block-hunting, Mario and Tippi made it to another Purity Door. They entered it and found a new being. It was basically a spring with eyes. It was red at the bottom but green at the top and went through all the colors of the rainbow until then, and it was hopping around constantly. Quickly Mario scanned the thing, seeing if it was hostile.

"It's a sproing-oing. For some reason, this creature lives to hop endlessly. SS is 54 with its jumps. DS is 70. SPS is mid-high. ES is 0. MS is 10. IS is low. Threat level: 2. If you hurt it, it will split into many mini-sproings, but if you do enough damage in one hit, it'll be destroyed before it can split. I wonder if breaking up is hard to do, even for these creatures." Time then resumed.

"Well they seem dumb as rocks so I doubt they could get someone to break up with." Mario remarked. Then, as if offended by what Mario said but more likely just having heard noises, the spring-oing bounced toward Mario rapidly. "Alright then." Mario said as he rolled out of the way of a jump. The spring was quick though, and jumped again, this time landing on the plumber.

"Hey, stop it!" Mario yelled as the spring landed on his capped head repeatedly. It didn't really hurt, but it was annoying. After about ten jumps, Mario had had enough and grabbed it from the air, throwing it into a tree. The spring-oing broke into thin wires upon impact and went through the tree. Afterwards, the tree began to fall over in Mario's direction. The hero was prepared though and caught the medium-sized (similar circumference to Mario himself and about seven times as tall) tree with his gloved hands. Mario wondered what to do with it, until he saw some goombas and other sproing-oings. Mario gave a mighty heave and threw the tree a few feet in the air. It landed on several enemies, ending them instantly.

Mario was then hit with a rock from behind. "Really?" Mario said turning around. How stupid would these creatures have to be to try to fight someone who could catch and throw an entire tree? He took a look and saw a few strange many-legged purple creatures with what looked to be suction cups for mouths. Mario quickly scanned it as he had done to all the other species.

"It's a squig, a fairly common creature across all dimensions. SS is 47. DS is 60. SPS is low. ES and MS are 0. IS is low. Threat level: 2. These creatures have a nasty habit of spitting rocks, but the rocks aren't exactly hard." Time resumed.

A squig spat another rock at Mario, but Mario adeptly caught it and threw it back at a much greater speed, killing the creature and causing the rest to scatter. The dead squig poofed out of existence and a 'Shroom Shake replaced it.

"Wow, I can't believe they have these out here," Mario said as he put it in his seemingly bottomless overalls. He then looked down at the ground where the squig used to be. "I guess it's one of those types of creatures that fades away after they die," Mario said, stating the obvious. "How does that happen anyway?" Mario asked the non-obvious.

"I don't know." Tippi plainly stated.

Mario climbed yet another hill and began to notice the grass getting lower and more sparse. A spring-oing pounced from the top of the hill, but the plumber grabbed it just like the last one, this time snapping it in two with his hands. A few goombas raced from the top of the hill, but they tripped and rolled all the way down, Mario easily dodging them.

"It's so easy it's getting kind of boring," Mario said as he walked up the hill. "I know it'll get _way _harder though." Mario had gone on many adventures and quests, and he knew how they worked. They started off easy, but eventually became challenging. Considering Mario was going up against the end of all worlds, it was safe to say it would become _very _challenging.

Mario finally got to the top of the hill, where the grass completely disappeared, and was replaced by hot, cracked ground. This confirmed Mario's prediction. Just like almost every other time, Mario gets to a desert second.

**END OF CHAPTER!**


	4. Chapter 4

Looks like it's time for the desert area (though desert proper still hasn't been reached). There will be a few significant changes to this chapter though.

**I do not own **_**Super Paper Mario**_** or any of its characters, nor am I making any money from them. They are property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

_And so Mario proved his worth by taking down enemies and reaching the desert. It was still far from over however, and they still had a Pure Heart to find._

"_Follow me," Tippi said as she flew toward the mountain that loomed ahead. The Pure Heart was hidden somewhere on the other side._

* * *

"I feel that the Pure Heart is beyond this mountain," Tippi said as Mario looked up toward the huge slab of rock with hints of sand. "but it's still far, far away."

"It wouldn't be a true adventure if it wasn't," Mario told Tippi back as he briskly walked towards it. Two koopa troopas, one with a green shell, one with red, yelled at the plumber. They ran over to fight him from opposite directions, but Mario simply leaped over them and they conked each other on the head, knocking each other out. "They probably should have thought a-head," Mario quipped. Two squigs attempted to launch rocks from about 1/5th the way up the mountain but Mario jumped over them, doing a front flip before perfectly landing on the ground. "It's off to a rocky start for these squigs." Mario dodged more rocks with precise jumps, before unleashing another mighty leap that made it to their platform. At the end of the jump, the plumber bounced off of one of the squigs, before landing on the other, crushing them both under his mighty boot. Upon landing on the platform however, the force of his jump caused the rocks to crumble and break off the mountainside. Mario lost his footing for a second, but managed to grab on to the remainders of the platform. After pulling himself up, he quipped "I almost slipped up there."

"Nice puns," Tippi stated to Mario.

After climbing to the top of the mountain, he came across a massive chasm that prevented him from going to the next mountain. Even for Mario's legendary jumps, it was too far to cover. It went all the way down the mountain and was too steep for Mario to go down without hurting himself. Fortunately, there were some floating '?' blocks that were about twenty feet above the hero, and some normal floating blocks about twenty feet above that which made a bridge. This would also be too high to leap to for an ordinary person, but Mario was no ordinary person.

Mario braced and leaped up… straight into the '?' blocks. He still wanted to get coins. Tippi was silent during this, but Mario could tell she was judging him.

"I didn't bring any coins with me when I left. I'm going to need them for shops and stuff," Mario explained.

When all the coins were released from the blocks, Mario jumped on top of them, only to realize that the other set of blocks was directly above them. Mario couldn't move from side-to-side, and he doubted he could get to the second set of floating blocks from the ground. This wouldn't stop such a great hero though. Mario leaped up, and just before hitting the blocks, he wrapped his arms around them, enclosing the block between his arms and his capped head. He was now hanging on to the blocks, with his fingers knit together. The red-garbed plumber eventually separated his gloved hands and let his left arm go, causing him to swing to the right a bit. Mario took advantage of the momentum and propelled himself up with his right arm, which was still hanging on to the blocks. Mario landed onto the block face-down.

"Oh mama-mia," Mario sighed as he stood back up. He proceeded across the block bridge, which had no enemies. When Mario got across the chasm, he jumped down to the next mountain, cracking the ground with the force of the landing. Next up for Mario was a gentle climb, or was it? At the top was a mysterious floating green ball about the height of Mario. The ball had two purely white eyes and white arms that extended from the 'equator' of the ball. Mario had Tippi scan it.

"That's a barreller. These enemies show up at the top of mountains and throw barrels. SS is 220. DS is 200. SPS is low-mid. ES is 0. MS is 30. IS is medium. Threat level: 4. These enemies can endlessly create barrels to throw at unsuspecting passerby. They're fairly strong as well, so don't think you've won if you've closed in on them. I always get reminded of monkeys when I see these enemies, don't know why."

Time unfroze and the barreller created a bucket out of thin air, catching it in its white hands. The creature then threw the bucket down the hill at high speeds. Mario jumped over it, racing toward the strong creature. The barreller spawned another barrel and threw it, only to be met with the same result. It's eyes began to narrow and it pounded the ground with its fists, enraged at Mario dodging both of its attacks. The floating creature spawned and threw yet another barrel. Rushing up the mountain, and having covered about half the distance, Mario took out his Ultra Hammer and unleashed a downward smash, destroying the barrel and angering the barreller further. It threw a fourth barrel, but Mario jumped up, having come close enough to attack the creature upon landing. He swung his weapon down and it landed with a mighty THUD! on the barreller, which put up its arms in defense. Even blocking, the enemy was hurt by Mario's mighty attack. It tumbled back and stopped hovering for a few seconds. By the time it began to hover again, Mario was already upon it, striking it with a side swing and knocking it to the right. He stared at it to see if it would get back up, but it faded away and a gray, rough mushroom came from it. Mario moved over to the mushroom and began to inspect it, before his eyes widened in surprise.

"A Rock Mushroom! I never thought I'd see one of these again. Looks like I'm on a roll."

The plumber then turned his eyes to the Purity Door just beyond where the barreller was. "Looks like we got another one." Mario walked up and entered the door.

On the other end of the door was yet another chasm, although this one had a sign next to it. It read "Bridge closed! -Red the Bridgemaster". There was a Purity Door directly beyond it.

"This could be trouble," Tippi said.

"Not really, I mean his house is right over there." Mario pointed to a house several yards from them.

"How can you tell?" Tippi asked.

"Because it says 'red' on the mailbox."

It did say 'red' on the mailbox, and was almost entirely red. If Red had a house at all, this would be it. Mario knocked on the door. No one answered.

"Maybe he's not home," informed Tippi.

"Maybe." Mario turned the door handle to see if it was unlocked. To his surprise, it slid open easily.

"Well either he left the door unlocked, or something happened to him," Mario said with a hint of worry.

Mario entered the house to find red walls, pictures of apples and other red things scattered about, a red dining room table to the left, and stairs covered with red carpeting in the right. "Hello?" Mario asked. There was no response yet again. Mario went up the red stairs, until he reached the top and saw another door. The silence felt ominous and Mario readied himself for another battle. Mario opened the door.

In Red's room was an odd creature. It was a floating blob-shaped _thing_ of pure black. It was composed of three spheres, each stacked on top of each other, getting smaller as they went down. They looked almost like holes due to the _thing's_ black coloration. Its hands, which were disconnected from its body, were ice-blue and a white diamond-shaped "antenna" was dangling from its head, contrasting with its blackness everywhere else. In Red's bed, a few feet away from the _thing_, was someone who looked like a guard. He had yellow skin and a red helmet with a spike on top of it and a spear as long as he was tall. He had a mustache that went gradually down as it extended from the middle of his face and a red outfit. He looked like he was in pain, and he had fear in his eyes. Mario looked into the eyes and saw them warning him away from the room, away from the town.

Suddenly, his eyes went blank and he yelled out a simple phrase with a deep, powerful voice.

"Hail Bleck!"

Mario was shocked, and as he was trying to overcome his shock, the _thing _then turned—apparently it was facing toward the soldier—and Mario saw ice-blue eyes, purely blue with no white, matching the color of its hands. It sunk into the floor, and the soldier, who Mario assumed was Red, got up from his bed and grabbed his spear with both hands, pointing the spear at the plumber. Mario, realizing what was about to happen, got into a battle-ready stance and scanned him.

"That's Red, the guardian of his bridge. He's had to defend it from many invaders and wild beasts. SS is 250. DS is 355. SPS is mid-high. ES and MS are 0. IS is medium. Threat level: 5. He is an expert fighter with and without his spear, and can take a good beating, so be careful. He looks a bit like you, but don't let that stop you from beating him. I think something went wrong with his mind though."

Red jumped off the bed and ran toward Mario, spear outstretched, but Mario caught the pointy weapon with one hand before the blade could make contact. Then with his other hand, he slammed down on the spear and broke it in two, both parts falling to the ground. Not deterred by this, Red immediately headbutted Mario, the spike on his helmet making contact with Mario's big nose. Mario stumbled back in pain, clutching his nose with his left hand. Wasting no time, Red grabbed the bladed half of the spear and thrust it into the hero's abdomen. The spear barely pierced the plumber's skin, but it was still enough to hurt. Mario winced in pain before punching Red right in the face with his right hand, his left still on his face. Red flew in the air and was knocked into the wall (which cracked) by the force of the punch, blood went upon his face, but he was hardy and came at Mario again. This time, the plumber sidestepped to the left, putting his right foot out and causing the guard to trip over it. Red was sent careening into the opposite wall, which also cracked. After taking his left hand off his nose and finding that the wound didn't draw blood, Mario stared at Red, who seemed to be unconscious.

Mario looked behind him at Red's bed and suddenly spotted something that appeared on the floor next to it. With a quick motion, the _thing _rose from the floor and stared upon Mario and the unconscious Red. The plumber scanned it immediately.

"That's a blue magiblot. These mysterious ethereal mages serve in Count Bleck's army. SS is 130. DS is 300. SPS is teleporter. ES is 210. MS is 240. IS is medium. Threat level: 4. They hurl an attack spell before fading into the ground and reappearing in another area. They can also use hypnosis, but it can be resisted by strong willpower. If its hypnosis gets through, it will stay on until the magiblot is defeated. Blue magiblots are the weakest versions. "

The magiblot's eyes began to glow even brighter, and Mario released it was using hypnosis. Mario could soon feel his mind being assaulted by visions of Bleck.

"Hail Bleck!" Mario heard countless voices say. He blinked and afterwards, saw a completely black room, with the count extending a gloved hand, waiting for Mario to shake it with his own. For a moment, it looked tempting. Bleck's smile, though unchanged, seemed warm and inviting now. Mario wanted to give up for a brief moment; to just let go and take the easy route for once. Mario extended his hand…

And smacked Bleck's glove away. He would never join such a villain. Bleck stole Peach and had her marry BOWSER of all people! He was an omnicidal maniac who wanted to destroy all dimensions, all life!

"I will never join you!" Mario yelled, causing Bleck, and the entire illusion, to fade away entirely, replaced with Red's home and the blue magiblot. Surprised, the magiblot cast a sphere of blue energy, which Mario dodged by stepping to the right. The spell barely missed the unconscious bridge guard, which Mario took notice of. The plumber continued to run toward his foe, but when he got close, the magiblot sunk back into the ground. Mario then started looking around the house, hoping to see a sign of the creature. The creature appeared to Mario's right, in front of a red wardrobe. It flung a second spell, but the hero ducked under the spell, sliding on the floor feet first and popping up for a punch. Yet again, the magiblot disappeared, and all Mario's fist was met with was the wardrobe, which split open. "This guy really lives up to his name," Mario said, seeing all the red clothes spilled everywhere.

As he looked at the floor, which was now filled with clothes, Mario wondered how could he defeat this thing? Its spells were easy enough to dodge and its hypnosis was ineffective, but the plumber couldn't tag it. Every time he got close the thing would just disappear again. He would have to strike it right as it popped out, but he didn't know where it was coming up next. He'd have to use a projectile, but there was only one option he had for that.

"I hope this guy has good homeowners insurance." Mario created a fireball in the palm of his hand, ready to destroy the magiblot the instant it popped up. For the fourth time, it materialized from the floor. Mario chucked the flames at a fast speed, hitting the thing before it could react and causing an explosion that turned a portion of the red interior black with soot. "That had to have got it." The dust cleared and the magiblot was no more.

Then, Mario heard the mustached solider churning.

"He is waking up. Do you think he will help us?" asked Tippi.

"I don't see why not. We have the same fashion sense." Indeed, Red, fitting to his name, had on a bright red helmet, red shirt with yellow buttons, blue pants, and mustache. It was almost as if Red was this dimension's Mario, though not nearly as powerful.

"Uugh. What… happened?" the soldier sputtered out as he rose from the ground. "Where is my spear?"

"I broke it when we fought and you were under mind-control."

"Wait, what?" Red asked, finally catching sight of his broken weapon. "Ah man." Red said dejectedly. "Wait a minute, you actually defeated me?" Mario nodded. "and that… _thing _is gone too?"

"It's called a magiblot." Tippi spoke. "but yes, it's defeated."

"Whoa." Red said, momentarily lost in thought, before piping up again. "Well then, you really saved my bacon there. I'm impressed." Red sprung a noticeably more chipper expression on his face. "Say, uh… any way I can repay you?"

"Actually there is one thing." Tippi answered. There's a huge chasm outside that we need to cross."

"Well then, you found yourself the right guy!" Red yelled out, seemingly proud of this. "But hey, I've got to warn you. You know this place is called Impasse Pass, right?"

"How could I have possibly known that?" answered the plumber, clearly annoying the bridge guard.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Red reasoned.

"Let's just say I'm from somewhere different." answered Mario.

"Well then, you need to know that I'm only allowed to let a choice few cross the bridge. It leads to the Yold Desert wilderness, which itself is quite close to the Yold Ruins, a very dangerous place. It's in my job description not to let just anyone cross. I mean, that's why they pay me to stand here." Mario raised an eyebrow upon hearing that. "You sure you want to pass?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, you did save me from being trapped in some weird blob's hypnosis and all…" Mario began to roll his eyes, expecting the guard to ask him a favor like he wasn't grateful Mario just fought off that Magiblot. "I'm going to ask you a question." Red continued a few seconds later. "Get the right answer, and I'll let you pass."

"Oh boy." said Mario to himself.

"What's the most manly color in the entire universe? Red or green?" Mario was a bit shocked that the guard would be so petty in letting people pass the chasm, but he felt like Red didn't see others very often, so this was just his way of entertaining himself when the rare passerby came. Besides, it was an easy question that was obviously supposed to have red as the answer based on the soldier's obsession with the color.

"Red." Mario answered.

"Yes, you are _so _right. I knew it! You and me, we see eye to eye on fashion." Mario rolled his eyes. "I'll throw the bridge down, hang on a sec." Red then pushed his bed a few feet to the left, revealing a red lever behind it on the wall. Red swiftly pressed it down. "All right, you should be good to go. You take it easy!" Mario laughed at the irony as he headed out the door and down the red stairs. The plumber knew things would get a lot harder from here, and here Red was telling him to take it easy, like he knew the half of it.

"Oh and by the way… I don't know exactly what awaits out there, but I know there is a really awesome Pixl that can guide you." Red called out.

"Alright thanks." Mario called back just before exiting Red's abode.

"Well that was an ordeal." Tippi said to the plumber as they began crossing the bridge that formed.

"Oh this is nothing compared to the things I've seen." answered Mario, assuring Tippi's confidence that this was the one who would save all worlds.

"Oh, what have you seen?"

Mario thought back to his many, _many _encounters with Bowser. He was a strong, mighty foe, but Mario always handily beat him and rescued fair Princess Peach from his clutches. He especially recalled the time the koopa king attempted to take over multiple galaxies in a recent kidnapping, the 51st. The resulting conflict would have destroyed the whole dimension for good if not for Rosalina using the Grand Stars to remake it. Seemed like a lot of stakes at the time, but it was small potatoes compared to what Mario was trying to stop now.

Or maybe the time Mario went over to Rogueport and gathered the Crystal Stars. He met a lot of friends along the way, traveling through many regions to assemble the Crystal Stars to stop the Shadow Queen and Grodus. Of course, he played right into their hands, and his actions ultimately led to the Queen being released on the world. He shuddered to think what would have happened if the Crystal Stars hadn't weakened the demon during their battle.

"I've seen—a lot." Mario answered uncomfortably to Tippi as he stepped off the bridge and approached the Purity Door.

"You wouldn't be the legendary hero if you hadn't."

"True, true." Mario answered as he stepped inside the Purity Door.

On the other side of the door, Mario froze as he saw a small village about thirty yards away. It had a few grey houses with tall brown doors. One of these doors had a mushroom symbol hanging over it, signifying it was an Item Shop. Pots, vases, and barrels decorated the town, and another large chasm separated the town from the other areas of the desert. However, none of this was shocking to the plumber, what was shocking was the presence of more magiblots, four that Mario could count. The townspeople, who had yellow-green skin colors and mounds on top of their heads, stood completely still, obviously having been mind-controlled already and awaiting their next command.

Mario quickly leapt into action. He let out a mighty yell as the magiblots began to fire their spells toward him. The plumber easily dodged the slow-moving attacks and began to close the distance, readying his fire for attack. Just as Mario got only a few meters away from the first one, it sunk into the ground, reappearing right next to another one. Thinking fast, Mario launched an orb of fire into both magiblots, destroying them both. A few of the townspeople snapped out of their trance and started running towards their buildings, clearly very frightened by the black creatures. The remaining two magiblots gave chase, warping over to them and unleashing their hypnosis. A few townspeople stopped running and stood in a trance-like state, facing the creatures' shining blue eyes, though some escaped to the nearest building, like that would do them any good.

While the opponents were distracted, Mario ran up and smacked one with his hammer, causing it to poof into mist. The last one turned and shined its light blue eyes at the hero, attempting to control him with its power. A familiar visage of Count Bleck appeared, but the plumber smashed through it without pause and continued toward the magiblot, slamming into it before it could react.

With the last of the magiblots defeated, the townspeople were released from their control, and began wondering what had just happened. Mario quickly explained to them all the events that just took place, and how he heard of a new Pixl that could help him on his path to the Pure Heart.

"I think I know what you're talking about." one of the people stated. The Pixl's past here and in the Yold Desert."

"Great, so how do we get to it?"

"Well, it's just past that chasm, but the guard Green doesn't let just anybody through. You have to…"

Suddenly a green bridge, grander than the last one and sporting lamps and pillars, formed from nothing over the chasm. Someone exited a green house nearby, which Mario deduced was obviously Green's, and walked up to the bridge.

"Well, never mind there's my lucky break. Bye!" Mario yelled out as he ran away from the village toward the bridge that was about to be crossed, hurrying to make sure it didn't disappear again.

"Wait, that's for someone else. You don't have permission to cross!" the same townsperson yelled out, but Mario was already gone.

Mario jumped over the other person crossing the bridge, who seemed to be the same species as the rest of the townspeople. Normally the plumber wouldn't be so rude and would wait for permission to cross the giant bridge, but time was of the essence. The Void was swallowing up all worlds, and Mario couldn't afford to waste time on chit-chat. He ran past the bridge and through more cliffs, until he was sure the people couldn't catch him.

"Whew, good thing that bridge opened up." Mario wiped the sweat from his brow as he gazed into the distance. "That saved us a good helping of time."

"Let's hope the townspeople don't have any hard feelings about this." Tippi said.

"I'm more nervous about those magiblot things though." Mario responded. "They mind-controlled the people into following Count Bleck. You said those are the weakest variants?"

"That is right."

"That makes me more nervous. Count Bleck must have millions of those things if he's able to send this many out to this random dimension among thousands, and some are more powerful than the ones I fought."

"No, he doesn't have nearly that many." Tippi corrected. "At least, not to my knowledge. Most dimensions don't have any magiblots in them, and this is one of the few that do."

That only made Mario more nervous. If Bleck didn't have enough Magiblots to send them out to every dimension, that must mean he knew Mario was here and he sent them out specifically here to stop him. It explained why there were Koopa Troop soldiers here of all dimensions; they were mind-controlled by these magiblot minions and sent out to battle Mario.

Mario made sure to keep his discomfort a secret from Tippi as he walked toward the vast desert beyond, where the Pure Heart lay.

**END OF CHAPTER!**


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